Closure for pre-mix container



March 1, 1960 F. s. FAUST 2,926,811

CLOSURE FOR PRE-MIX CONTAINER Filed June 5, 1957 Azrazlviys.

United States Patent CLOSURE FOR PRE-MIX CONTAINER Francis 8- Faust,Buffalo, N.Y., assignor to R. G. Wright Application June 5, 1957, SerialNo. 663,774

4 Claims. (Cl. 220-25) This invention relates to covers, and moreparticularly to a closure for pre-mix drink containers.

The use of pre-mix tanks for ready mixed drinks containing syrup andcarbonated water, or soda, such as the. cola type beverages now on themarket, is becoming more popular, especially in automatic vendingmachines, at soda fountains, and for portable use as at picnics, orother. outdoor affairs. Such pre-mix tanks must necessarily be of highstrength to withstand the pressure of the charged contents, andfurthermore, must have a cover which must not only be large enough toafiord easy cleaning of the tank, but must also be leakproof, and strongenough to withstand the pressure when the tank is full.

. The pre-mix tanks of the prior art having closing covers generallyinvolved a hand operation and fairly elaborate manipulation to apply orremove the cover from the er blowout.

2,926,811 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 tion broadly includes an oval shapedcover 14, and a self-locking linkage arrangement 16. The cover 14 has anoutwardly extending flange 17 along the bottom edge which flangesupports a rubber washer, or gasket 18 bonded to the cover, as best seenin Fig. 8. The tank opening 12 has a reduced diameter neck portion whichserves to provide an inwardly facing annular shoulder to seat the gasket18. It will be apparent that the cover 14 will thus be seated withincreasing seat pressure as the pressure of the charged tank isincreased, to thereby effectively reduce the possibility of leakage, ortank cov- The opening 12 and cover 14 have been specified as being ovalso that the cover may be inserted Within the tank 11. Obviously, theopening and cover could be another shape if desired, such as. round, itbeing only necessary to afiix a ring or equivalent within the tank. Incertain cases the covers were not adequately designed thereby resultingin leakage and possible great body harm it the cover was blown off.

The cover of the present invention represents an improvement, whichavoids the shortcomings of many of the closures of the prior art. Moreparticularly, covers embodying the principles of the invention may bequick- 1y applied or. removed and, furthermore may be permanentlyafiixed to the tank with which it is used thus avoiding loss of covers,or extra handling of covers during tank cleaning operations. Mostimportantly the cover of the invention is self-sealing, and provides aprogressively tighter seal as the pressure inside the tank increases.

These and further objects and features of the invention will become moreapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingwherein:

Fig. 1 is a section view of a pre-mix tank having a closure meansincorporating the principles of the invention, said means being shown inclosed condition;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 but showing a portion of theclosure means in section;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 but with the closure means inopen condition;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view generally as seen from line 44 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section view as seen from line 5-5 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section view as seen from line 6-6 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section view as seen from line '7-7 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section view as seen from line 88 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of certain ele ments forming partof the closure means of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to Fig. 1, a tank, orcontainer 11 has an oval shaped opening 12, and a filling pipe 13 whichis capped after the tank is filled with a pre-mix beverage. A cover, orclosure arrangement embodying the principles of the invenopening toreduce the area thereof after the cover has been placed in the tank.

The self-lock linkage arrangement 16 includes a slidable arm or lever19, a rotatable lever 21, a pair of connecting links 22, a pair ofpivoted levers 23, and a pair of mounting brackets 24. The brackets 24are L-shaped in side projection, with one leg extending and overlyingthe edge of the opening 12, the other leg having laterally extendingbase portions 26 adapted for affixing the bracket to the top of the tankadjacent said opening. Slidable lever 19, which is U-shaped in crosssection, is pivotally secured at one end to a lug 27 which is afiixed tothe cover 14, and has a pair of elongated slots or longitudinalslideways 28 for receipt of a pin 29 secured in its mid-region to theforwardly extending arms of the mounting brackets 24, and at its outerregion to the for ward end of the lever 21. The lever 21, which is alsoU-shaped for slidably receiving the lever 19, has a pair of downwardlyextending lugs, or arms 31, which are pivotally ailixed to one end ofthe connecting links by means of pins 32. The opposite end of theconnecting 1inks22 are arranged for pivotal connection with the levers23 by means of pins 33. The pivotal levers 23 are L-shaped, the lowerand shorter legs thereof being pivotally secured to the mountingbrackets 24 by means of a pin 34, while the longer legs are pivo'tallyaffixed to one end of the slidable lever 19 by a pin 36.

A spring 37 is arranged to have one end abutting the surface of the tankadjacent the lower edge of the bracket base portion 26, is looped aroundthe pin 34, at each end thereof, and has the other end in engagementwith an edge of the pivoted levers 23. The spring 37 is tensioned toconstantly urge the pivoted lever 23 counterclockwise (Fig. 2) about thepin 37. The axes of the various pins 29, 32, 33 and 36 are, of course,parallel with each other and also with the plane of the opening 12.

The linkage arrangement 16 is self-locking when the cover 14 is moved toclosed position, by virtue of the fact that the pins 32 pass dead centerof the line between pins 33 and pin 29. Once the lever 21 is rotatedcounterclockwise about the pin 29, the locking arrangement of the linkswill be disrupted due to the fact that the pins 32 will move upwardlypast the centerline between pins 33 and pin 29. As soon as theself-locking arrangement is disrupted, the spring 37 will expand andcause rotation of the pivoted levers 23 about the pin 34 re sulting inthe counter-clockwise movement of the levers 19 and 21 about the pin 29.Such motion will cause downward movement of the cover 14 within the tank11, and sliding movement of the lever 19 downwardly by reason of theslot 28 and the pin 29 connection. Accordingly, the cover 14 will notonly be given a rotating motion but also a linear motion, resulting in apositioning of the cover within the tank as illustrated in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that in such open position of the cover 14, cleaning ofthe tank, which is done with the tank in inverted position i.e,, withthe opening 12 lowermost within a cleaning or washing machine, the washwater sprayed upward within the tank will wash the inside of the cover'as it flows downwardly and out of the tank.

To close the cover it will be seen that by applying force upon the endof the lever 21, to cause clockwise movement thereof, the lever 19 willbe drawn upwardly via pin 36 connection between the lever 19 and lever23, so that the cover will be drawn upward into closed position withinthe tank opening 12. Final downward rotary movement of the lever 21 willforce the pin 32 past the line of centers of pins 33 and pin 29, andthus lock the linkage assembly in position as illustrated in Fig. 1.

It is to be noted that the lever 21 projects beyond the side of the tank11, which projection may be utilized tor mechanical unlocking andopening of the cover by means of a plunger or arm (not shown) movingparallel with the side wall of the tank. Likewise, mechanical means maybe arranged for closing and locking the cover by application of forceupon the end of the lever 21.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a cover made according to theprinciples of the invention represents an improvement which avoids theshortcomings of prior art covers. In addition to the convenience ofhaving the cover permanently afiixcd to the tank with which it is used,the cover of the invention provides progressively tighter sealing as thepressure inside the tank increases, thereby avoiding the hazards ofcovers not so constructed.

The foregoing description has been given in detail without thought oflimitation since the inventive principles involved are capable ofassuming other physical embodiments without departing from the spirit ofthe invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a container having an opening with a reduced diameterneck portion providing an inwardly facing annular shoulder, a coverfitting within said neck portion against said shoulder, a self-sealinggasket between said cover and shoulder and aflording progressivelygreater sealing efiect as pressure within the container is increased, afirst lever having a longitudinal slideway, a pivotal connection betweenone end of said first lever and said cover, a pivotal connection betweensaid first lever and container and including a pivot pin projecting intosaid slideway to permit longitudinal movement of said first leverwhereby the cover can be moved into the container, at second lever, apivotal connection between one end of said second lever and saidcontainer, a pivotal connection between the other end of said secondlever and the other end of said first lever, and manually releasablemeans interposed between said first and second levers and locking saidlevers in a position holding said cover closed, the axes of said pivotalconnections being generally parallel with each other and the plane ofsaid opening.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein a spring means isinterposed between said container and second lever and biases said coverto an, open position.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said manually releasablemeans comprises a link, a pivotal connection between one end of saidlink and a central portion of said second lever, a third lever, apivotal connection between the other end of said link and one end ofsaid third lever, the other end of said third lever being pivotallysupported by said pivotal connection between said first lever andcontainer, and a handle extension on said third lever for manualmanipulation thereof.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 wherein said pivotal connectionbetween said other end of saidlink and said one end of said third leverpasses beyond dead center with reference to said pivotal connectionbetween said first lever and container and said pivotal connectionbetween said one end of said third lever a central portion of saidsecond lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS maMam:

